McALLEN - McAllen has been ranked the most affordable urban area in the nation, according to The Council for Community and Economic Research.

The economic research council surveyed the average prices of gasoline alongside the cost of milk, eggs, bananas and even haircuts and doctor’s visits. In total, more than 90,000 prices of 60 different items were tracked in 264 urban areas in the United States.

In McAllen, a 2,400-sf home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms would run homebuyers an average of $222,333 while the same type of home would cost $240,971 in Austin and a whopping $533,500 in Seattle.

Average monthly rent is $752 for an unfurnished two bedroom, 950-sf apartment in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metropolitan Statistical Area versus $869 in San Antonio and $1,043 in Austin for the same setup.

Austin is 15 percent more expensive than McAllen and the cost of living in Seattle is 61 percent higher. Washington is 70 percent more pricey than McAllen and Manhattan in New York City is 163 percent more costly.

Another Rio Grande Valley city, Harlingen, ranked third after Ashland, Ohio, in the report.